Matthews, NC Homes for Sale - Expert Bilingual Realtor

Matthews

  • Arrow Icon32,769 Population (Census estimate, July 1, 2025)
  • Arrow Icon17.12 Square miles of land (2020 Census)
  • Arrow Icon1879 Year the Town was incorporated

Description

Matthews is an incorporated town at the southeastern edge of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, southeast of Charlotte. The Town's comprehensive plan describes a 17-square-mile town bordered by Charlotte to the north and west, Mint Hill to the northeast, Stallings in Union County to the east and south, and unincorporated Mecklenburg County to the southwest. Matthews was incorporated in 1879, and the Census Bureau estimates its population at 32,769 as of July 1, 2025.

Matthews is its own town, not part of Charlotte. Inside town limits, the Town sets zoning, while Mecklenburg County handles building permits and sends one tax bill that includes the Town's tax. A Matthews mailing address does not always mean the Town of Matthews.

This page doesn't list homes for sale. I'm Yubeen Choi, a bilingual English and Korean agent with eXp Realty. Tell me your budget, the kind of home you want and the parts of Matthews you're considering, and I can send you current listings that match. I can also check whether each address is inside town limits before you tour. For commercial property, see my Matthews commercial real estate page.

Where Matthews Is and Town Limits

Downtown sits just west of the town's geographic center, where the CSX railroad, John Street and Trade Street meet. According to NCDOT, US 74 (Independence Boulevard) meets I-485 in Matthews.

In the Census Bureau's 2020 relationship file, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 28105 overlaps the Town and also parts of Charlotte, Mint Hill and Stallings. To check an address, the Town's GIS and Maps page links an interactive zoning map, and a County tax bill for a home inside the Town includes Town of Matthews taxes.

Water, sewer and power

The Town does not provide water or sewer. Charlotte Water serves most of Matthews, and Carolina Water Services of NC serves a small portion. Union Power Cooperative supplies electricity in the eastern corner of the Town and off Sam Newell Road north of Independence Boulevard, and Duke Energy serves the rest.

Zoning, Permits and Downtown Rules

Inside town limits, zoning follows the Town's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), adopted on December 9, 2013 and in effect since April 1, 2014. The Envision Matthews Comprehensive Plan, adopted on May 13, 2024, guides the Board of Commissioners on rezoning requests, and Town staff are updating the UDO to align with it. Mecklenburg County's Land Use and Environmental Services Agency handles building permits, zoning permits and inspections.

Single-family lots and short-term rentals

The UDO sets a minimum lot area of 20,000 square feet in the R-20 district, 15,000 in R-15, 12,000 in R-12 and 9,000 in R-9, with a maximum building height of 35 feet in each. Whole-house short-term rentals are prohibited in those four districts. Every short-term rental operator needs a Town zoning permit, renewed annually.

Downtown and historic rules

The Historic Urban Core (HUC) zoning district covers only the defined downtown commercial core, and property in the Downtown Overlay District must also meet the overlay requirements of UDO § 155.504.1. The Matthews Commercial Historic District, on North Trade Street and East Charles Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. That listing alone does not restrict a private owner unless the owner seeks a federal benefit such as a grant or tax credit.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission administers individual properties, and its FAQ lists local historic districts only in Charlotte and Davidson, none in Matthews. The commission's list of designated historic landmarks does include a Matthews section. Owners of designated landmarks need a certificate of appropriateness before significant changes, new construction, demolition or relocation, and can apply for an annual property tax deferral of up to 50 percent.

Property Taxes and Revaluation

Mecklenburg County assesses, bills and collects property taxes for the Town of Matthews, so one bill carries both Town and County taxes. The County kept its rate at 49.27 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in its fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, adopted on June 2, 2026. The County's FY 2026-2027 rate chart lists the Town's rate as 0.2795 and a combined rate of 0.7722 for property inside the Town. Taxes must be paid by January 5, 2027 to avoid interest.

Since 2019, the County has revalued property every four years, and it is now conducting its 2027 revaluation. New value notices will be mailed in early 2027. An owner who disagrees can request an informal review within 30 days from the date on the notice. When you compare homes, I can pull each parcel's latest tax bill.

Homes and Neighborhoods

The Town's history says the settlement was known as Stumptown and later as Fullwood, after its post office, before the first train arrived on Dec. 15, 1874 and the railroad named the stop Matthews after a company director. The act incorporating the town, which spells it Mathews, was ratified on March 8, 1879, and the 1880 census listed 191 residents.

Crestdale, once called Tank Town after a railroad water tank, dates to the 1860s and was annexed into the Town in the late 1980s, according to the Historic Landmarks Commission. The 1.5-mile Matthews Heritage Trail, completed in summer 2021, runs from behind Town Hall through Crestdale to the Four Mile Creek Greenway.

Housing age and named subdivisions

A 2022 Housing Needs Assessment, prepared for the Town by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute from County tax parcel data, found that both the mean and median year built in Matthews was 1991. Only 3% of houses were built before 1960, 18% between 1960 and 1980, 53% between 1980 and 2000, and 27% in 2000 or later. The oldest homes are next to downtown, particularly along Main Street.

Using the Town's subdivision boundaries, the assessment places most 1960s and 1970s homes in large single-family subdivisions such as Pine Forest, and says neighborhoods like Brightmoor were built in the 1980s and 1990s on the outer edge of the newly constructed I-485. Neighborhoods from the 2000s and 2010s are more compact, such as Harmony Hills. Four subdivisions have more than 300 units each: Brightmoor, The Heathers and Sardis Plantation, single-family neighborhoods with between 1 and 2.5 homes per acre, and Paces Point, an apartment community.

It also noted an increase in townhome construction since 2020. Its data date from June 2022, so I can check the age, lot and HOA rules of each home you're considering.

Getting Around

NCDOT calls US 74 (Independence Boulevard) the main gateway to Uptown Charlotte from southeast Mecklenburg County. Its planned widening from Sardis Road to I-485, including a rebuilt NC 51 interchange, is listed as not funded in the 2026-2035 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), adopted on July 9, 2025.

NCDOT cut the ribbon on the I-485 Express Lanes on Feb. 27, 2026, with opening to traffic set for Feb. 28. They add one express lane in each direction for approximately 17 miles between I-77 and U.S. 74, with improvements at the E. John Street interchange in Matthews.

NCDOT is also planning to widen approximately 6.5 miles of East John Street and Old Monroe Road, from Trade Street to Wesley Chapel Stouts Road. On December 9, 2024, the Board of Commissioners voted to request removal of the four-lane plan through downtown from the STIP, and the Town said it planned to seek a federal RAISE grant, with NCDOT's help, for a redesigned three-lane roadway. The adopted STIP lists that segment as not funded, and it plans to widen NC 51 (Matthews Township Parkway) to six lanes between Sardis Road and East John Street. For a home near either road, I can check NCDOT's latest maps before you make an offer.

Transit

CATS lists two park and ride lots in Matthews: Matthews Independence Pointe, at 9614 Independence Point Pkwy (routes 17, 51 and 64x), and Matthews Presbyterian Church, at 207 W John St. (routes 27, 51 and 64x).

The LYNX Silver Line is not funded to reach Matthews. Its fiscally constrained first phase is planned to run 10 miles with 16 stations, from the Airport to Coliseum/Ovens, and CATS's Transit System Plan, adopted on May 28, 2025, says an extension east to Matthews would be considered as funding allows. Preliminary findings from a CATS study, presented on April 23, 2026, say current cost-saving strategies cannot achieve the savings needed to extend the line to Matthews.

Parks, Downtown and Places

The Matthews Community Farmers' Market, at 188 N. Trade St., is a producer-only market for farmers, food makers and farm crafters from within about 60 miles of Matthews, open Saturdays year-round. The Matthews Heritage Museum opened on June 7, 2013 in the Massey-Clark House, built in 1879, at 232 N Trade St.

The Matthews Community Center, at 100 McDowell Street, opened in 1907 as the Town's first public school and houses Fullwood Theater, home of the Matthews Playhouse. The McDowell Arts Center is next door at 123 McDowell Street. Stumptown Park, at 120 S. Trade Street, hosts the Town's Matthews Summerfest, and Matthews Alive is a Labor Day weekend festival downtown that supports local nonprofit organizations.

Parks and greenways

Squirrel Lake Park, at 1631 Pleasant Plains Road, is a 29-acre park with a fishing pond and pier and a 12-hole disc golf course, according to the Town's parks brochure. Purser-Hulsey Park, at 13201 Phillips Road, is a 93-acre community park planned to include an all-abilities playground, nature trails and a splash pad, and the Town Board approved its design-build contract on October 27, 2025. Building it out is among the projects planned for the parks bond that voters approved in November 2022 with 57% of the vote.

The Four Mile Creek Greenway, a joint Town and County project, links the Matthews Community Center, Matthews Elementary School, Fountain Rock Park, Squirrel Lake Park, the Matthews Heritage Trail and the Sportsplex. The Mecklenburg County Sportsplex at Matthews, at 2425 Sports Parkway, has 11 multipurpose lighted fields.

Schools

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools operates schools throughout Mecklenburg County. CMS assigns each student a home school based on residential address and school boundaries, and it publishes separate boundary maps for each school year, so assignments can change. Before you rely on an assignment, enter the address in CMS's Find My School lookup, which opens the Mecklenburg County GeoPortal.

Buying or Selling in Matthews

Under North Carolina's Chapter 47E, unless the transfer is exempt, the owner selling a home with one to four dwelling units must give the buyer a residential property disclosure statement, an owners' association and mandatory covenants disclosure statement, and a mineral and oil and gas rights mandatory disclosure statement. Foreclosure sales, transfers between co-owners and transfers made solely to a spouse are among the transfers exempt from the whole chapter. The first sale of a never-inhabited dwelling is exempt from the first two statements but not the third. If the statements are not delivered by the time the buyer makes an offer, the buyer may cancel, a right that ends at the earliest of the events the statute lists, such as the end of the third calendar day after receiving the statement.

Before you make an offer, I can check whether the address is inside town limits, its zoning district and any downtown overlay, who provides water, sewer and power, what the HOA requires, and whether an NCDOT project reaches the property. When you sell, I can gather the same records early and go over them with you in English or Korean.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page doesn't list homes for sale. Tell me your budget, the kind of home you want and the parts of Matthews you're considering, and I can send you current listings that match. Because Census Bureau ZIP Code Tabulation Area 28105 reaches into Charlotte, Mint Hill and Stallings, I can also check whether each address is inside town limits before you tour.

Matthews is an incorporated town at the southeastern edge of Mecklenburg County, southeast of Charlotte. The Town's comprehensive plan says Charlotte borders it to the north and west, Mint Hill to the northeast, Stallings in Union County to the east and south, and unincorporated Mecklenburg County to the southwest. US 74 (Independence Boulevard) reaches I-485 in Matthews, and downtown sits where the CSX railroad, John Street and Trade Street meet.

No. Matthews is its own town in Mecklenburg County, incorporated in 1879 and governed by a mayor and Board of Commissioners. The Town zones its land, Mecklenburg County bills property taxes and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools assigns schools. Charlotte Water provides water and sewer to most of the Town.

No. In the Census Bureau's 2020 data, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 28105 overlaps parts of Charlotte, Mint Hill and Stallings as well as the Town. To check a home, use the interactive zoning map on the Town's GIS and Maps page, or look for Town of Matthews taxes on the County tax bill. I can check this for any address before you make an offer.

I don't post an average or a price range here, because prices change and an area-wide number says little about a specific street or subdivision. Tell me the subdivisions or streets you're considering, and I can pull recent sales of comparable homes so you can see what they actually sold for.

Mecklenburg County bills Town and County taxes together. For fiscal year 2026-2027, the County's rate chart lists a combined rate of 0.7722 for property inside the Town of Matthews, which includes the County's 49.27 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The County is revaluing all property, and new value notices will be mailed in early 2027.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. CMS assigns a home school based on a student's residential address and school boundaries, and it publishes boundary maps for each school year, so assignments can change. Check a specific address with CMS's Find My School lookup, which opens the Mecklenburg County GeoPortal.

It is not in the funded plan. The fiscally constrained first phase is planned to run from the Airport to Coliseum/Ovens, and CATS's Transit System Plan says an extension east to Matthews would be considered as funding allows. Preliminary findings from a CATS study, presented on April 23, 2026, say current cost-saving strategies cannot achieve the savings needed to extend the line to Matthews.

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